McPie

It's strange how players develop differently at similar ages. George Abbott at 19 is in his second season long loan in EFL league 1. Compared with Lamine Yamal who at 18 is a regular in the Barcelona first team and has already made his senior debut for the Spanish national team. He also became the youngest player to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or at 17.

Agree, no one is bigger than the club. With the McGoldrick transfer, it would seem the owners also agree!

I think yesterdays game shows just how important Jatta is to us. If we sell him, I can't see how we would get a ready made replacement before the window shuts. Well certainly not without a fee involved. We watch with interest!

It will take time for the team to gel, but I think after watching the full match replay the first "green shoots" are already starting to show. Newport are a very physical team. In fact their supporters clapped and cheered every bruising tackle and shirt pull. Yet despite that we gave as good as we got. That wouldn't have happened last year. We remember the league game away at Wimbledon, we were out bullied! That won't happen this year. We matched them physically and were the only team trying to play football. Their goal came from a set play. They were never going to score any other way. We created enough chances from open play to win the game. If we can become more clinical in front of goal, the season looks bright.

I agree we need to be patient with signings as we could be waiting to to see what happens with the loan market, but something doesn't quite feel right at the moment. It's hard to put your finger on it exactly. Are there issues behind the scenes that we are not aware of? I suppose we will just have to wait and see. Lets hope the silence is a positive thing. Certainly the Port Vale result was what we all needed!

So this begs the question: who is the next one out the door for a substantial profit or it someone we've yet to sign before this window shuts?

I think Mapperley Pie that pretty well sums up the way that Martin Paterson is thinking. Let's hope the Technical Board agree!

Yes I'm sure the club wouldn't be spending money on taking trialist on a tour to Germany without the radar due diligence. It would seem that if most of them are given contracts, it wouldn't leave much room for more signings.

Aside from the fact that the players and staff are in Germany, what could be behind the the lack of new signings? Could it be that spaces still to fill in the squad will be made from the current trialist and we are just waiting to see who is good enough? Are we still actively searching for a new number one goalkeeper or is the trialist Maks Baruc the likely candidate? Could it be we waiting to see if there are any outgoings, if so who might leave?

Absolutely agree. What might have been eh?

I’d go back to 1983 when we had Glen Roeder on loan. I remember making a contribution to the collection to help the club sign him on permanent basis. Sadly we couldn’t raise the funds. I’m sure he would have made a massive difference to fortunes going forward. He was different class as a center back. I just wonder what could have been!

I think the captain should be a real leader. Not just on the pitch, but in the dressing room. Someone who can encourage, motivate and has real personality. Someone who can take individual players to one side and inspire them. Not sure if Matt Palmer fits that criteria. Maybe one will emerge before the start of the season

Its true that we shouldn’t place to much importance on preseason friendly results, but you do hope to see some signs of the way the team is shaping up and indications of who might be in the starting lineup for the first league game. The concern is that after watching todays game, we didn’t seem to have any identity as how we will play as a team, it all looked a bit chaotic. Not to mention after 3 friendlies, not one of our strikers has scored. Has anyone noticed any standout performers?

I think Martin comes across as a coach who is clear on what he wants and looks to be a real leader. I get the impression that when the technical board meets, he will certainly have a major input. Hopefully this will lead to progress on the pitch and a strong team we can all get behind.

I thought there was some encouraging signs for Martin's post match comments today. Firstly, he emphasised that there is a lot to work on (which is fine as it's only the first pre-season friendly) but more importantly, he clearly knows how to fix it. He also mentioned that there will be changes of personnel, which possibly indicates transfers in and out. He didn't gloss over the fact that we didn't play particularly well however we still won. So hopefully he is instilling a winning mentality, which will be needed to get promotion. Did anyone pick up any other positives?

You would think that the way the owners work they would already have a replacement lined up. Selling your senior goalkeeper with no back up and with pre-season games and a tour in Germany coming up soon, just wouldn't make sense.

The announcement on the website seemed to suggest only relevant members of the technical board will meet before games to discuss tactics and selection and that the head coach will have the final say. “relevant members” would seem to imply that doesn’t include the owners. I would think they will only be involved in the periodic meetings, probably reviewing the progress etc.

I think listening to his interview on our website, it's seems Martin's problems at Burton Albion were due to having the pressure to almost do everything himself. With this technical board, he will have all the support he needs so can focus more on the team and improving individual players. That could be the difference this season. We have some good young players that just need help to improve and then promotion could be a real possibility.

Martin Paterson just might bring the fight, determination wining mentality we've been lacking. This video when he was at Tampa Bay Rowdies as a player seems to indicate this might be the case.

I think with the long wait, speculation and anticipation, this appointment in the first instance seems somewhat underwhelming. However, he might turn out to be a big success. My only concern is that he seems to have previously worked with Roberto Gagliardi at Leyton Orient and is possibly his recommendation. Looking at some of the early signings, I’m not yet convinced about his judgement.

Denmark 1-0 up and looking good

The longer we await an announcement of the new head coach the more it seems likely they know who it is but can't yet announce it. Add to the fact that the statement released when Stuart Maynard was sacked said "our work is well underway to identify the correct coaching team" could possibly indicate it's Steffen Højer. If not him someone else whose contract will end in the near future. Whoever it is, lets hope we are pleasantly surprised!

I like the idea, but not sure Neil Warnock is on the the brothers radar (no pun intended). However an experienced director of football (head of recruitment being a separate role) could work. You get the feeling something similar is taking shape. If the coach can improve the likes of Jarvis, Grant, Hinchy etc and help them reach the next level, then I think we could be in business.

Elsker det, lad os komme i gang med at øve os

Could the restructuring of our footballing department mean that the new head coach will focus on developing young players and improving them technically and less about picking the team and tactics. Allowing for an assistant to help with team selection and tactics. Steffen Højer would certainly fit the bill.